Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to monitoring water flow, and in particular is related to automated monitoring and control for irrigation systems.
Description of the Prior Art
Water and water conservation are becoming extremely more important due to climate changes and unprecedented drought conditions both domestically and globally. Historically, detection of water flow problems, such as that from a broken or malfunctioning lawn sprinkler head or broken or malfunctioning drip irrigation systems, has been limited to visual identification either from a ‘geyser’ of water where the sprinkler should be or from an unusually wet spot around the sprinkler or from landscaping and/or lawn that is turning brown due to lack of water. Leaks in general are usually located by visual observation of the leaked water.
In some cases, such as on boats, leaking water can be detected by sensors placed in such a way to detect water before the leak becomes a significant problem. However, in systems such as home or commercial lawn irrigation systems, it is impractical to deploy a sufficient sensor array to detect a leak without visual observation. Further, most home and commercial sprinkler leaks occur during watering cycles when either the home occupants or other owners/users are not likely to observe the leaking water. Detection typically does not occur until further damage has occurred, such as washing out of soil in the area or water damage to a fence or wall or noticeable changes in landscape such as the grass turning brown or foliage dying.
Some attempts have been made to commercialize sprinkler leak suppression at the sprinkler heads. This is somewhat impractical for general use because it requires a large number of detectors (one for every sprinkler head). Further, it does not protect against a break in the supply lines, nor is it practical for use in ‘drip’ irrigation heads which have very low flow.
What is needed is an improved method for monitoring and controlling irrigation as well as a system that is easy to install for existing irrigation systems.